2020GQ mix: Lyle Lovett- Family Reserve

There are uptempo numbers on this list…. but this isn’t one of them. I’m not feeling terribly uptempo about things today- but it’ll come back around. Lyle Lovett is an American treasure- he writes in and blends multiple genres- a sort of acoustic blues americana soul country savant. I’ve never had one of my trademark obsessive phases with him, but he’s always there, a solid stalwart in my music library. This one’s about celebrating family amidst the inevitability of, well, mortality.

2020GQ mix: The Indigo Girls- Watershed

I’m what my brother calls a melancholic, which some of my friends would understand to mean I feel all the feels. I suspect I’m not the only one of those in the Indigo Girls’ audience. Their music is incredibly, sometimes uncomfortably, earnest in its emotions. It can tip into bathos at times for me now, but they’re aiming at big targets, so that’s going to happen. I haven’t listened to their recent stuff, but years ago, they were one of the few artists who sounded like how I often felt. Also, Amy’s vocal range is very comfortable for me. :p

2020GQ mix: Sam Cooke- A Change Is Gonna Come

For me, this is among the greatest popular songs ever written. I know that’s not a particularly original opinion, but I share it. Yet another iconic vocalist, Sam Cooke’s classic plays under the montage in Spike Lee’s Malcolm X (a film as good as the song, btw), as Malcolm is heading to his last fatal speech. That was my first exposure to the song, which is a perfect expression of perseverance in the face of crushing weariness.